2020 Season will set Orlando Magic’s future path

The Orlando Magic have high hopes for the 2020 season. Others are a bit bullish on them. Their x-factors remain their young players and how they develop.

The Orlando Magic entered the offseason somewhat triumphant but also full of questions.

The team had broken through its post-Dwight Howard doldrums to make the playoffs. But the team still had to map out its future. Part of that came when it opted to re-sign veteran players Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross.

Orlando saw a market that would not give the team much room for improvement without possibly taking a step back and future markets not full of valuable free agents, and they opted to ensure they kept everyone in place for another run at the playoffs.

The Magic’s chances to take another step and compete for homecourt advantage and to get out of the second round would have to come from their own internal growth and development along with replicating the success of the 2019 season.

It was a bit of a gamble for sure.

But the Magic seem willing to see how it plays out. Their bet for the 2020 season is that their young players like Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac, Markelle Fultz and Mohamed Bamba all take sizable leaps in their games and that will push them forward.

The story of the 2020 season is certainly about the team trying to push its way back into the playoffs. The Magic found success in 2019, but need to back that success up and show that it was no flash in the pan.

If Orlando wants to push its way into the Eastern Conference’s upper echelon this year, as some believe the team can, it will come on the strength of their young players. It is their young players — that core four group that is 25 years old and younger — that will really map the team’s future.

The Magic may not be asking them to take full command of the team in 2020. But their ability to do so in the near future will determine just what this team’s ceiling might be.

It is understandable that plenty are bullish on this Magic team’s ceiling.

In ESPN’s recent Future Power Rankings, the Magic held firm at No. 20 despite that playoff run last year. Bobby Marks wrote on the Magic:

"There is still upside to an 18th-ranked roster that won 42 games and made the playoffs for the first time in seven years.The team will count on continuity with its starting five returning, and it has multiple veterans under contract for at least three more years with a stable of young players, including Jonathan Isaac, Markelle Fultz, Mo Bamba and Chuma Okeke.Isaac and Fultz are the X factors to move Orlando into the top half of the rankings."

It would seem they foresee a team that has balance but no clearly defining star on the team unless Isaac and Fultz take a big leap. Aaron Gordon perhaps could take a jump in his production too. That seems to be the expectation for this coming season.

The Magic by running their team back are eager to see just how much it can grow. From there, the team can make its plans.

That puts the early pressure on Gordon with his declining contract. It feels like a big year for Gordon to prove where he places among the NBA’s best young veteran players.

The early returns on Aaron Gordon’s attempts to do so have not been good — with Nikola Vucevic out of the lineup, he shot a combined 3 for 26. Gordon tried a bit too hard to carry the team and struggled to get himself going.

The early conclusion might be he is best as a secondary player, slashing and cutting to the basket in the half-court and using his athleticism to finish in transition and space. If that continues that will affect how the Magic map out their future.

The same could be said for Jonathan Isaac.

His offense still seems to come in bursts. He is more confident on the ball and attacking off the dribble, but it is not his forte yet. The Magic have given him more shots this preseason — 10.0 points per game on 9.4 field goal attempts per game and a 43.6 percent effective field goal percentage.

Isaac is still developing and still gaining confidence as a shooter. This year is about confirming his progress late last year as it is about him taking another step into the offense.

But if there is a reason to be pessimistic about the Magic it is in these two player’s development and just what they can provide immediately to the team. Gordon and Isaac are absolutely vital to the Magic’s long-term success. And absolutely vital to the team competing for home-court advantage in the short term.

These players are the key to any kind of growth and success for this team. And everyone knows it.

The Magic can still be a good team without them taking any sizable leaps.

Last year, they were led in scoring by a first-time All-Star in the 28-year-old Vucevic. He had always put up solid numbers but finally broke through with an offense seemingly tailored to accentuate his best skills — his high-post passing and his low-post footwork.

Terrence Ross got put in a perfect role for him and was given the green light to fire. The Magic tailored their offense to get him open on cuts and take advantage of his quick release to fire over unsuspecting defenses.

Gordon plugged in well for that team, filling in gaps as a floor spacer and slasher. The Magic will still need Gordon to fill that role depending on the matchup.

The team found the right formula and combinations to make a 22-9 run to the end of the season thanks to a defense that suddenly became elite. It felt like lightning in a bottle.

The Magic do not want lightning in a bottle though. They want a fully self-sustaining power plant, able to regenerate itself. They want to be a perennial playoff team. And not just a perennial playoff team but, eventually, a contending team.

Vucevic can still maintain his level of play. Fournier can return to his mean. But none of that seems like it would take the team to the next level.

The next level only comes with Gordon, Isaac, Bamba and Fultz. In 2020, the success of the season and whether this team takes a leap will come with Gordon and Isaac’s development.

After all, it was Isaac’s 3-point shooting development that helped push the offense along on that playoff chase.

Everyone will wait to see how this group develops. And how they develop this year could help the Magic determine what comes next.

And how they perform will help shape the Magic’s next steps.